Tweet
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: August 27th, 2024.
Director: Bosco Lam, Kin-Nam Cho
Cast: Yvonne Hung Yung, Lawrence Ng, Mai Ching, King-Tan Yuen, Mark Cheng, Yolinda Yam
Year: 1994/1998
Purchase From Amazon
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 1 & 2– Movie Review:
Vinegar Syndrome brings together Bosco Lam’s infamous 1994 Cat III film, A Chinese Torture Chamber Story, with Kin-Nam Cho’s 1998 sequel, aptly titled A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 2, in this deluxe two-disc edition.
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story:
One of the more notorious films from the golden age of Hong Kong’s ‘Cat III’ wave, A Chinese Torture Chamber Story has been a staple of Asian exploitation since it was made back in 1994. An opening text scrawl enlightens us as to the events that have preceded the film wherein criminals where punished in some rather horrible methods. Once we’re up to speed, we meet a young woman nicknamed Little Cabbage (foxy Yvonne Yung from Sex & The Emperor) who works away in her small village as a maid for the local scholar, Yang Nai-Wu (Lawrence Ng of Sex & Zen fame).
After a few strange events, Yang and Little Cabbage stand accused of having an affair and of murdering Ge, Little Cabbage’s husband who, after taking an aphrodisiac that Yang recommended, died when his penis exploded. You see, Yang’s wife has been cheating on him behind his back and Little Cabbage is the only one who knows. It’s for this reasons that she’s been masterminding the plan to set them up and get rid of them so that she can carry on all willy-nilly without having to worry about the consequences of her own unfaithfulness.
From the opening sequence involving a graphic scene of castration to the various scenes of torture and graphic sex, A Chinese Torture Chamber Story makes no false pretenses as to the kind of film it is. There are no lofty aspirations here – this is a film made to titillate and shock. That said, whether intentional or not, there are some rather inspired scenes to be found in and among the trashier bits that the film is known for. The cinematography and costume design is quite nice and while none of it holds a candle to better known big budget fare made around the same time, there was at least some obvious effort put into making the film look good.
Of course, the film itself is completely ridiculous and that’s really the whole point – we never get the impression that we’re supposed to take this movie especially seriously. The martial arts/love-making scene has since become notorious for its insanity and the plentiful and nasty scenes of torture, gore and mutilation give the film a nasty edge. That said, there’s definitely a playful, tongue-in-cheek side to the picture. There’s a brilliant parody of Ghost in the film that even uses Unchained Melody (you’ll know where it’s going as soon as the scenes starts) and the film winds up a really strange mix of oddball comedy and nasty gore. The movie is all over the place, bouncing back and forth from comedy to horror to softcore and back again and, if seeing this one for the first time, you’re really not going to know what to make of the picture until it’s done – if then.
Put equals parts trash, gore, sexploitation, slapstick and art all in a blender – what you’ll get is A Chinese Torture Chamber Story.
Note that Vinegar Syndrome has also included the alternate ninety-two minute Mandarin language edit of this movie, which runs fifty-one seconds shorter than the original Cantonese language version of the film.
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 2:
Directed by Cho Kin-Nam, this sequel, made four years after the original film, is also a period film. This one introduces us to a man named Ma (Mark Cheng), a politician who travels from his rural home to the big city when he’s confronted by Wong (Yang Hsiung) and Cheung (Lam Wai-Kin), a pair of downtrodden bandits hoping to make a score. It doesn’t quite work out that way and Ma, after getting to know the two men, offers to help them walk away from a life of crime and make better lives for themselves and their families. He isn’t without an ulterior motive, however, as Ma has eyes for Lotus (Yolinda Yam), Wong’s beautiful sister, who just so happens to be engaged to Cheung, who we later learn is impotent.
A few months later, in order to take advantage of the proposition that Ma has offered them, Wong and Cheung travel to the city only to learn that Ma isn’t nearly as altruistic as he initially appeared to be and that he’s now the governor. Sure, he takes care of them at first, but it soon becomes obvious that his political ambitions and obsession with Lotus are going to overwhelm him and before you know it, he’s using his new found authority to lock people in prison and torture them to his cruel heart’s content!
Seemingly, at least initially, influenced by the themes of brotherhood and loyalty to often explored in the films that Chang Cheh made for Shaw Brothers in the decades prior, A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 2 does a surprisingly good job of pulling us into the narrative and letting us get to know and appreciate the characters. In fact, the first half or so of the movie is, for the most part, a genuinely nice story about a man in a position of power trying to help some of his constituents. Once things shift to the capital city, however, the movie takes a pretty drastic shift in tone as it’s clear that Ma is not only just out for himself, but a pretty sadistic bastard as well.
Mark Cheng does a great job in the lead role, throwing himself into the part. He’s convincing as a nice guy in the first half of the film, and just as convincing as a sadist in the second, coming close to chewing the scenery but never quite crossing the line into overdoing it. Instead, he portrays Ma as a man who really enjoys his work! Yang Hsiung and Lam Wai-Kin are pretty solid in their roles, while Yolinda Yam really makes quite an impression as the sex-bomb character that is Lotus!
As to the exploitation and horror elements, the second half of the movie pulls no punches. There’s plenty of sex, violence and sexual violence as well and Cho Kin-Nam takes he movie into some very dark territory. The second half of the movie throws in everything from rape to child abuse and, unlike the first movie, plays things very straight, which results in a much grimier and nastier movie in tone when compared to the original film. That said, it still features some really solid production values, impressive camerawork, lush costuming and quality special effects work.
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 1 & 2– Blu-ray Review:
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 1 & 2 arrive on their own separate Blu-ray discs from Vinegar Syndrome in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer framed at 1.85.1 widescreen “Newly scanned and restored in 2K from their 35mm original negatives.” Generally speaking, these look really nice. There’s impressive detail evident throughout each feature and really strong color reproduction here as well. Black levels are nice and deep and skin tones, on frequent display, look nice and natural. Reds, often tied into some of the bloodier scenes but also evident in much of the costume and drapery used in both movies, pop nicely without looking oversaturated. There isn’t much in the way of print damage to note (the second film has a vertical scratch around the sixty-three minute mark but it doesn’t last long), it’s mostly just small white specks and they aren’t especially frequent. The transfers look nice and filmic, there aren’t any issues with heavy noise reduction or edge enhancement problems and compression artifacts never really creep into the frame at all either.
Audio options, all of which are in 24-bit DTS-HD Mono, are offered up for the Cantonese version of the first movie in Cantonese and English options and for the Mandarin version of the film in Mandarin, while the second film gets Cantonese and Mandarin options. Subtitles are provided in English for both version of the first movie and for the second film as well. Purists will opt for the original audio options but all of the options provided sound fine. The tracks are clean, clear and balanced without any hiss or distortion to complain about.
Extras on the first disc, aside from the alternate version, are limited to a new commentary track with film historian Samm Deighan. She covers the film's literal Chinese title and some of the historical references that both the title and film itself make, the over the top nature of much of the movie, comparisons to other genre films, how there's much more to the movie than just the gore and sadism, details on the cast and crew members that worked on the picture, the film's release history, where the movie fits in the pantheon of CAT III films, whether or not the movie is even trying to be realistic, films that possibly influenced the movie, some of the themes that the film explores, Bosco Lam's life and times, thoughts on the performances and characters in the film, the film's writing team, where the film pulls from Chinese folk lore, why she feels the movie is a good introduction to Category III movies, how the film blends genre elements so effectively and plenty more.
Disc two feature a commentary track with film historian Frank Djeng wherein he talks about the literal translation of the film's title and some of the alternate titles it was known under, the movie's release history and box office success, details on the different cast and crew members that worked on the production, how the original movie is more of a comedy than this one, how the story for the sequel is based on a pretty notorious case from Chinese history and how it has a much more unpleasant tone to it, thoughts on the actors and their performances as well as some of the filmmaking tactics on display, the history of the ratings system in Hong Kong, how fetishized some of the torture sequences in the movie are, details on the editing and music featured in the picture and other details that surround the movie's history.
Disc two feature a commentary track with film historian Frank Djeng in which he explains how movies reflect the world in which they are made, having to change with society, his own experiences in different eras of Chinese cinema, how strong production values made his films successful casting decisions, working with Golden Harvest and how his degree in Chinese history helped inform some decisions on the film.
The seventeen minute The CAT III Films Of Wong Jing is a video essay by Justin Decloux of The Important Cinema Club wherein he explains the different ratings used in Hong Kong, the popularity of CAT III movies in Hong Kong and abroad, the trend jumping nature of Wong Jing and his output, details on Wong Jing's career as a producer, director and actor, his family history, how Wong King made his way up the ladder in the Hong Kong cinema scene, how A-list starts appeared in CAT III films as there wasn't really a stigma attached to them, what set Wong Jing's CAT III films apart from the others, some of the star that Wong Jing was able to work with, films that did and maybe didn't deserve the CAT III rating, some of the other period films that he produced, the man's affinity for sexploitation pictures and more.
Titillating Torture is an eighteen minute video essay by film historian Erica Shultz wherein she discusses the films' ability to pull some of the most insane tortures you can imagine from Ching Dynasty penal system torture tactics, background information on how and why these practices were put into place, how imperial Chinese law played a part in this, how some of these torture tactics were explored in the movies in this set, details on some of the torture devices employed and some pretty grisly real life examples from Chinese history that likely inspired scenes in the movies. Those with an appreciation for the stranger side of history will appreciate this one.
Disc two also contains original Cantonese and English trailers for A Chinese Torture Chamber Story, an original Cantonese trailer for A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 2 and an alternate English opening title sequence for A Chinese Torture Chamber Story.
This release comes packaged with some reversible cover sleeve art, a poster, and, if ordered from the Vinegar Syndrome website, a slipcover designed by Chris Barnes and limited to 6,000 hand numbered units. Included inside the keepcase alongside the two disc is a full color insert booklet with an essay by film historian and author Grady Hendrix titled ‘A Taste Of Sugar, A Taste Of Shit: Two Wong Jing Torture Chamber Stories’ that provides an interesting overview and history of the two films in the set.
A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 1 & 2- The Final Word:
The Vinegar Syndrome double feature Blu-ray release of A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 1 & 2 is a good one, presenting both movies in solid presentations and with some interesting extra features that cover not only the history of the two movies in the set, but also some of the history that inspired them. Fans of CAT III films need not hesitate, this is a really solid release of two sleazetastic features well worth seeking out.
Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized A Chinese Torture Chamber Story 1 & 2 Blu-ray screen caps!
